Pens sign Dimitrakos 10/5

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins signed forward Niko Dimitrakos to a tryout contract today, adding a potential difference maker to a lineup that could probably use a little more goal scoring.

Dimitrakos has spent the last three seasons in Europe, but the two years before that, he was a solid scorer at the AHL level. In 06-07, he had 19 goals and 42 points in 62 games with Philly and Chicago. In 07-08, he had 20 goals and 40 points in 64 games with Binghamton. He’s also played 158 career NHL games with San Jose and Philadelphia. He was in camp with Vancouver this fall.

Hockeydb.com lists him as a center, but I recall him playing right wing. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the WBS puzzle.

The Penguins also sent winger Chris Barton to the Wheeling Nailers today.

I wasn’t at practice today because I was on another assignment. I’ll have more on Dimitrakos tomorrow, and I’ll try to get updates on the availability of Keven Veilleux, Jason Williams and Alexandre Picard as well.

In the meantime, I have a Q-and-A with coach John Hynes in tomorrow’s paper and a profile of Colin McDonald lined up for Friday. Check those out.

A winner of first-place honors in the blogging category of the 2012 Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors awards, Penguins Insider was created to give local hockey fans an interactive, in-depth way to follow the team they so passionately support. The blog's author, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie, has been covering the team since its inception in 1999. Contact him at jbombulie@aol.com

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